Aktar kriterji

Chile: the government struggles to implement its reform programme25-04-2019Studju

Sommarju : Chile is a close partner of the EU in Latin America. The EU and Chile have a mutual interest in pursuing even closer ties, leading them to agree to upgrade and modernise the Association Agreement signed in 2002. They started negotiations on a modernised agreement in November 2017.
President Sebastián Piñera's centre-right government took office in March 2018. Politically, the situation of the Mapuche indigenous community and stricter migration policies have dominated its first year. The government has also tabled comprehensive proposals for tax and pension reform but has found it difficult to implement its reform programme.
This is largely because it lacks a majority in Congress and faces a much more diverse political landscape than in the past, making it more difficult to gain broad support for its proposals. However, it has benefited from a robust economic recovery that started in 2018 after two years of sluggish growth.
Under President Piñera, Chile has adopted a tough stance against the Venezuelan government, in line with other centre-right governments in South America. Chile played a key role in the launch in March 2019 of the new organisation for regional cooperation, the Forum for the Progress of South America (Foro para el Progreso de América del Sur, PROSUR).

Awturi :
Jesper TVEVAD

Korpi :
Affarijiet barranin, D-CL

Parliamentary scrutiny of trade policies across the western world25-03-2019Studju

Sommarju : The Lisbon Treaty increased the European Parliament’s powers over EU trade policy. Ten years after its entry into force it is timely to take stock of how the EP has made use of this leverage in shaping the EU’s trade negotiations. Such an exercise benefits from a comparison with other well-established parliamentary democracies, particularly the key partners with whom the EU has recently negotiated or has started to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement.
This study compares parliamentary scrutiny of trade policy in the EU with the United States, Canada and Australia. It concludes that the European Parliament has become powerful and active in trade policy, on a comparable level to the US Congress. Its powers exceed those of other Western democracies, such as Australia and Canada. From the latter the European Parliament may conclude that it is important to codify some of its informal oversight practices, before they may get lost over time again. This may also help to encourage its trading partners to increase their parliamentary involvement during negotiations with the EU. As regards the implementation of trade agreements however, the EU has very few competences in comparison to all other three countries analysed.

Sommarju : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Challenges presented by migration and refugees from a Euro-Mediterranean perspective25-01-2019Studju

Sommarju : There are opportunities for cooperation in the field of border management, migration and refugee protection among member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) during the European Parliament’s presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM). There needs to be greater trust and confidence among these states in order to achieve such objective. UfM member states participate in a range of related initiatives in their various regions with states outside the UfM. These need to be accommodated. UfM member states share an international legal basis applicable to the field which may usefully be built upon. UfM member states widely affirmed political commitment to this foundation in the 2018 UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and its counterpart for Refugees.

Awturi :
Elspeth GUILD and Diego ACOSTA

Korpi :
Affarijiet barranin

The Scope and Mandate of EU Special Representatives (EUSRs)24-01-2019Studju

Sommarju : The present study aims to assess the scope and mandate of EU Special Representatives (EUSRs) in an attempt to explore and provide an analysis on the role of this diplomatic instrument of the European Union, especially in light of the changes to the conduct of EU external action brought about by the Treaty of Lisbon, reflected in the creation of the European External Action Service and European Union Delegations. By doing so this study not only provides an update on the role of EU Special Representatives in the EU’s external action, but also looks forward by assessing their added value and the potential of their further institutional integration.

EP democracy support activities and their follow-up, and prospects for the future18-01-2019Studju

Sommarju : The Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) is responsible for coordinating the democracy support activities of the European Parliament (EP). Over the course of the eighth legislature, the DEG has aimed to bring strategic focus to its democracy support activities through the introduction of a Comprehensive Democracy Support Approach (CDSA). While the introduction of the CDSA has outlined a vision for more focused and strategic interventions around the electoral cycle, the implementation remains a ‘work in progress’. There have been some innovative and long-term activities that bring coherence with EU policies, notably in Ukraine, but also there continue to be some cases of one-off actions without clear objectives. The comparative advantage of the EP in democracy support is its political perspective and ability to work ‘peer to peer’ with other parliamentarians, which has been demonstrated in its capacity building and mediation and dialogue activities. Overall the EP should continue to strive to be innovative and strategic in its democracy support, working where it has influence and bringing policy coherence with broader EU priorities. Election observation remains relevant, and follow-up to observer recommendations could be enhanced. The Sakharov Prize and the activities around it, which are also coordinated by the DEG, are consistent with EU values, including through support for human rights defenders and civil society.

Awturi :
Holly Ruthrauff, Hannah Roberts, Sarah Crozier

Korpi :
L-Iżvilupp, Affarijiet barranin

Workshop: The European Parliament and the new external financing instruments05-11-2018Analiżi fil-Fond

Sommarju : The workshop hosted discussions on the European Parliament and the current external actions instruments, as well as on the role of the European Parliament under the new proposal for a Neighbourhood, development and international cooperation instrument.

Consequences of US trade policy on EU-US trade relations and the global trading system17-10-2018Studju

Sommarju : The Trump Administration’s trade policy is driven by the belief that previous Administrations have let other countries take advantage of the United States for foreign policy reasons, as demonstrated by America’s more open trade regime and its trade deficits. It is determined to end this perceived imbalance by demanding reciprocity instead, and is willing to use tough tactics to achieve this through strict enforcement of its procurement and trade defense law; expansive tax provisions; bringing the WTO dispute settlement to a halt; withdrawing from and forcing others to renegotiate existing bilateral and multilateral agreements; adopting a novel “national security” argument to justify breaking WTO tariff commitments for steel, aluminum and possibly autos; and enacting punitive tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from China, possibly threatening a trade war. The scenarios for U.S.-EU trade relations as well as the global trading system are anything but rosy. The EU can stand up to the Administration’s “bullying,” or it can take advantage of America’s need for a “re-balancing” to build its own stature by taking simple steps to improve EU-U.S. trade, forging a way forward in the WTO, and providing necessary leadership to address the dangers China’s economic system poses to the global trading order.

Sommarju : The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

The Development of an Institutional Framework for the Implementation of the Association Agreements in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine: a comparative perspective19-09-2018Studju

Sommarju : In recent years the EU concluded Association Agreements, including the creation of a Comprehensive Free Trade Areas with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. These are amongst the most complex and comprehensive legal treaties concluded by the EU with third countries. The treaties place a profound obligation on the partner countries of legal approximation, that is, to undertake extensive, binding commitments to adopt vast swathes of the acquis in order to stimulate political and economic development and institutional modernisation. This study shows that creating the institutional framework for implementation is a challenging and drawn-out process. While all countries have made some progress with devising these mechanisms, they are short of the necessary political leadership, policy planning, administrative capacity and there is a dearth of budgetary planning to enable effective implementation. There is also a notable need to embed implementation into wider reform strategies. While these issues are being addressed on the part of the countries, the EU can assist them by providing the necessary systemic support in an integrated, sequenced and long-term way.

Awturi :
Kataryna WOLCZUK, Professor of East European Politics, University of Birmingham and Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House, United Kingdom